Hey guys, I realize Im going to ask this question to a biased audience but I feel like those of you who are successful in the markets don’t just focus on one. Over the next year or so I will be able to accumulate around $50k due to my circumstances. I have decided that I want to be a trader for a living. I’ve been doing this for about a year, more or less just here and there. I have managed to keep myself in the green on a 10k demo over that period. Over the next 2 years I plan on really putting all my attention into learning this craft. Although I’ve been relatively successful in forex it seems most of my gains come from the stock world. Maybe its just me but it seems like price action is easier to predict with the stock market than the forex. Currency price action seems to be extremely sensitive to even the slightest rumor. A politician can say one thing and the price shoots off in one direction only to take off in the next when a central bank says something else. The forex is so big that it seems to be affected by too many variables to predict. Although the US stock market is alot smaller, it seems I am better skilled at speculating the future of a company. Maybe this is because I’ve owned a corporation in the past and know what to look for? I guess what I’m asking is whether you can be just as profitable with a 50k acct in the stock market as you can in the foreign exchange. Should I focus the next two years refining my skills in the stock market? Or, would using that time learning the forex be more beneficial in the long run? The ability to consistantly predict price action that is influenced by any and every event, rumor or statement, regardless of its actual value, seems like an unsurmountable task. And I wont even mention trying to do all of that despite the often shady practices of a forex broker. Chime in and let me know what you professionals think.
If you have that amount of money just buy stocks on Buffett style. Belive me you don’t wanna lose it all overnight because that is what is going to happen, statistic fact, 100% of fx traders blew at least one account. By the other hand unleveraged stock trading, i mean investing not expeculating is a great thing. I would do it if i had that amount of money.
Oh yeah, I know. I dropped 2.5k into a live acct back in december. Within a week I was down 800 bucks. I immediately realized something was up or I didn’t know what the hell I was doing and cashed out before I lost it all. I call myself trading the same as on my demo. It was the strangest most frustrating thing. The price would move just far enough to take out stop and then reverse in my direction. I know of 3 trades that the price action reversed less than 2 pips from my stop. This rarely happens in demo but I swear it was nearly EVERY single time on live. Needless to say, I am a little skiddish right now.
Well done. Welcome on board as a full time trader. I would suggest for you to go with your flow. I’m very glad to hear that your demo has been green. It means you have that potential to become a professional trader. There are traders out there say this & that … I would say don’t take their advice 100%. Take into consideration while you are making your plan & above all listen to your intuition. It says exactly what is right for you. Hope you have courage to do this.
Having said this 25K account is more than enough if you are properly managed your leverage + risk management for jump into stock market. Again its your money. Your portfolio. Based on your financial capabilities decide your account amount. There were traders who has started with 5K too. Basically I do find better trading opportunities in trading futures, indices & commodities. If you are good enough in forex to build up your portfolio, trading in stock market is not a big deal. Congratulation Sir 
D
mmmm. I haven’t lost an account and I am profitable. It depends on your own style, seriouslness to learn, strategy, money management and discipline. You don’t need to lose an account to become successful.
Just my opinion
An example, I trade 2% risk each time. If I keep to that money management strategy, even if I completely screw everything else up, my account will never go to zero. My bigest run of losses ever is 4, which was 2 weeks ago. Money management is critical as is entry/exit strategy, and the psychology of trading
Maintaining a control over the trades and fixing the lot size also fixes the Risks that is associated with trades. When we know that we have also used the Stop Loss the risks will be well under control.
If I had that much funds, yeah would start looking around as well. BTW, congratulations
Seems to me you prefer stock trading vs forex and if that is your preference you may be better off going with that instinct instead of trying to fit yourself into forex trading when you aren’t totally comfortable with it. I don’t have any experience in trading stocks but I would imagine you can make just as much money trading stocks as you can trading forex.
Is this 50k disposable? Will it affect your existing lifestyle if you lost it all? What are the intentions of the money? Preservation of capital? Capital appreciation and growth? How much money do you need to live on? How much would you like to live on? How old are you?
These are just a few of the questions you should be asking yourself. Forex is very much like a casino, where most come in and lose and very few obtain an edge and are habitually profitable.
I won’t provide any advice on what you should do with your money, but I will say this much, unless my financial position in life was secure from my current age until the day I die. It it were me, I would seriously be looking at a conservative strategy to fill in any gaps that might currently exist before putting any dollar at extreme risk.
I trade Equities, CFD’s, Futures and Forex so can understand where your at. Personally, I’d stay in my comfort zone. Many would argue that forex is more straight forward in that your pro tech’s or fundi’s and trade accordingly. Equities require an understanding of a companies management, books, ratios and percieved value over a number of perameters. If you do decide to go with forex, you need not concern yourself with the odd news spike or high profile type. Yes the market is sensitive but soon corrects to the longer underline direction. Trade off longer tf’s and it should present no more concern than any instrument.
Yes it will be income that will not affect my situation if lost. I do not plan on risking a single penny until I am confident of both my strategy and understanding of the markets. I am more comfortable with stocks but it’s just because I’ve been trading stocks on and off for the last 6 years. I’ve been the founder and CEO of a corporation in the past that grossed around $2M a year so I am fairly comfortable analyzing companies based on the information available. That being said, if there are more opportunities in the forex then I would rather spend my efforts into learning a new trade. I will still be working full time so the trading hours of the forex is what really appeals to me. That and the fact that it is not going to be a 50k lump sum but, rather, money that is being saved up along the way. The forex would allow me to start trading alot sooner than the stock market will due to the regulations of the stock market. Thanks for all of the input as well.